Can you keep a secret?
by SinfullyBlonde
Summary: Hermione has a secret, and Severus has her all figured out...or does he?


Severus Snape slowly added the delicate, silver Dragon scales to the potion in front of him. He watched with no small amount of satisfaction as the thick blue mixture became a deep copper color. The potion was one of the most difficult ones he had come across in his years as a Potion Master, harder even than the Wolfsbane Albus manhandled him into brewing for that flea-bag Lupin every month.

Severus understood potions. He understood the balance, the finesse needed to transform simple ingredients into the most deadly of poisons or the most potent of healing draughts. What he did not understand was people. He had never been a social person, not even in his youth, and much preferred the life of solitude that being a spy provided him. He spent so much time looking out for himself, that he rarely interacted with others unless he absolutely had to. Perhaps if he had put the same effort he poured into his potions into learning more about the people around him, they wouldn't confuse him so much, he thought with a wry smile.

He had certainly been dumbfounded when Hermione Granger had come to him almost two years ago requesting the Entumecer potion, the very one simmering in front of him. It came as quite a shock to learn that the bushy haired Mudblood was anything but. Miss Granger was actually one of the rarest creatures in the Wizarding world, a Veela. Her father had been killed days after her birth, and her mother had followed her mate into the afterlife, not able to bear the loss of her Veelan husband. It was decided that with Voldemort on the loose, the infant daughter of one of the most powerful Veelas since the 3rd century should be placed into hiding. Hermione had been placed with a squib who had chosen the life as a Muggle dentist instead of living as a pariah in the magical community.

She had hidden her heritage better than anyone could have imagined. Severus knew it must have galled her to suffer the Malfoy brat's taunts about her dirty blood when her own line made his look muddy in comparison. But she had. No one would have guessed that Miss Granger was anything but Muggle born, least of all him. She, like all Veela before her, had gained her Inheritance on her 16th birthday, and had undergone quite the transformation. Her Veela qualities, dulled by anti-glamour spells, had refused to be charmed away. Her russet hair hung in soft waves down her back, her eyes lightened from a deep brown to an exotic tawny, and her skin seemed to glow, as if she were always bathed in candlelight.

The clever chit managed to cover her transformation by starting the rumor that she had discovered glamour spells while on holiday in Milan to improve her appearance, and the student body took her new image as an improvement, and failed to question anything. Even her lapdogs Potter and Wesley were content to ogle her new characteristics without delving too deeply as to their origins. Miss Granger had continued to hide her true heritage, much to his astonishment. Having been sewn-at-the-hip with Potter since her first year, he would have thought the girl would bask in the attention being a Veela would grant her. But then again, who could understand the workings of a Gryffindor? She had chosen to let them all believe she was a Mudblood and they certainly did Even he believed the girl had finally turned her overzealous nature to her own personal apperance until Albus had asked him to begin making the Entumecer potion, then it had all clicked into place.

Miss Granger had apparently failed to find her mate before the first full moon after gaining her Inheritance, and was in danger of dying from a deep depression that would eventually rob her of her sanity. The potion worked as a sort of numbing agent. Hermione wouldn't feel the agony of not being able to find her mate, the searing pain of her Veelan nature crying out for the one that completed her. In short, it would keep her alive, but at a price. The potion blocked out emotions, even pleasant ones, so the longer on relied on it to function, the more one risked losing their humanity. Severus knew that having been taking the potion every week for almost two years, Hermione would not be able to hold out much longer, and found himself hoping she would come across her mate soon.

Severus abruptly ended his reverie as he heard the potion begin to hiss, signaling the final stage of its preparation. He had been thinking of Miss Granger again, and frowned at his utter lack of concentration. This potion took a great deal of time and effort, and to ruin a batch would be unpleasant, to say the least. For not the first time, Severus was secretly glad Albus had forced him to take Hermione as an apprentice, to cover up the constant trips she would have to make to his lab to drink the potion. He looked at the parchment Poppy had owled earlier, requesting more Skele-Gro potion, having become depleted after Quidditch season and thought that there was plenty to keep his Apprentice busy this evening. He hated brewing the vile stuff, and would relish making the Gryffindor brew enough to last Poppy.

He had just finished corking the last bottle of the copper liquid when Hermione entered the lab with a quiet greeting of "Good evening Professor". His only response was to hand her the vial and watch as she swallowed its contents without a flinch. Severus knew the draught tasted awful, and her Veelan nature would have protested each time she was forced to take the dreadful stuff, but she continued to do so without complaint. He barked an order to begin on the Skele-Gro, and covertly watched her work as he graded the stack of essays in front of him.

When she had finished, labeling each tube in her precise script, he dismissed her with a curt nod in the direction of the door. So he was surprised when he looked up some minutes later to see her standing in front of his desk.

"I thought I made it clear that you were free to leave me in peace Miss Granger." He said in clipped tones, waiting for her reply.

"I was wondering if I could work with potions involving Unicorn blood over the Christmas break, Professor." She said. "I could tie the properties in with my thesis relating Magical Creatures and their uses in Medi-Wizarding."

"I was unaware that I would be forced to endure your presence over the holiday. What, may I ask, brought this event to pass?" The professor drawled malignantly.

"My parents were killed over the summer, and I'd rather remain here at Hogwarts than in the flat in Yorkshire." She replied evenly meeting his gaze.

"If that is what will persuade you to finally leave my labs, Miss Granger, it will be arranged." Severus said, trying to conceal his shock at hearing of the death of the Muggles the girl called parents.

He was a spy, for Merlin's sake, yet had known nothing about their deaths. He prided himself on knowing everything, even Hooch's middle name, something he had used to blackmail the witch into turning over the Quidditch pitch over to his team on more than one occasion. No, he thought, rising from the chair at his desk, he certainly didn't understand Miss Hermione Granger.


End file.
